Half of us happy to binge watch

By Aimee Stanton

Whether you gorge on Game of Thrones or are glued to Breaking Bad, we have become a nation of box set addicts with half of Brits (50 per cent) happy to watch between two and four one-hour episodes of a TV show in one go.

Once an activity saved for couch potatoes, binge watching has become a modern day phenomenon with services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video providing on demand TV.

The study carried out by YouGov shows how back-to-back viewing is now the preferred choice of viewing for many Brits.

The study also states that a three hour binge is the most popular choice for box set fans with 19 per cent admitting to a preferred three hour tele binge.The study also found that around a third (31 per cent) would happily binge watch for five hours or more.

We’ve not all got the stamina though as five per cent of people still prefer a delayed gratification saying they could only watch a one episode of a show in one sitting.

Young people most likely to binge

The time Brits spend watching TV does depend on age though. The study also found that young people are most likely to watch a TV show for the longest period of time with almost half (48 per cent) of 18 to 24 year olds admitting they could watch more than four hours in one sitting.

In addition 15 per cent admitted they would be happy to watch more than 10 hours in one go. This was the second most common answer provided by young people.

The older generation on the other hand who have been more used to rewinding cassette tapes are still a bit more reluctant to glue themselves to the same TV show for hours, as people aged 25 to 39 were slightly more likely to prefer a shorter viewing. This trend continues for the 40 to 59 age group.

Marathon viewing isn’t for everyone though and those aged 60 or over are least likely to binge watch.

More than six in ten people in this age group admitted they could watch no more than four hours in one viewing session (including nine per cent who could only watch a single hour). Only 15% admit to watching anything for more than four hours.

Graphic here - https://www.playbuzz.com/stevenchisholm10/tv-habits

Image here - Streaming services such as netflix and Amazon Prime have made it easier to bingewatch than ever. Shutterstock